We all know that nuts are fatty. Some of us steer away from them for this very reason, dreading those calories that may make us put on weight whilst we aim to eat ‘lighter’ snacks instead. However, avoiding all fats is a fad of the past.
A wealth of good quality scientific research has shown that those who regularly include nuts in their diet weigh less than those who don’t. Despite what many may believe, eating a handful of nuts daily can help you maintain a healthy body weight and not cause an increase in body weight. A long-term study on 7200 people following a Mediterranean style diet showed that those consuming more than three serves of nuts per week had a 40% lower risk of obesity and 32% lower risk of abdominal obesity. How can this be possible?
The perfect combination of protein, fibre, and healthy fats in nuts help satisfy our hunger and appetite so we eat less food overall and since most of us enjoy eating nuts, eating them helps us stick to a healthy eating plan for longer. This helps us achieve greater success in long term weight management. It is also estimated that between 5-15% of the energy in nuts is not absorbed by our digestive system due to the fat content being trapped in the nuts’ fibrous tissue.
The benefits of eating nuts daily go way further than weight management. Studies show that eating a handful of nuts daily significantly reduce your risk of developing a heart disease or dying from it. Even eating them once a week reduces your risk of heart disease. The healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats such as omega-3s help us keep our heart healthy and cholesterol at healthy levels. Antioxidants such as vitamin E, selenium, copper, manganese and phytochemicals such as flavonoids, resveratrol and ellagic acid reduce inflammation helping to maintain our blood vessels healthy. Nuts are also good for those with pre-diabetes, insulin resistance and type 2 Diabetes. Adding nuts to a meal with carbohydrates can slow the rise in blood glucose after the meal and improve insulin sensitivity.
Grab yourself a healthy handful of unsalted nuts, without any added oils daily. Just like when eating fruit and vegetables, it is also important to eat a range of nuts as each nut variety has a unique combination of beneficial compounds. If you would like to read more about the nutrient composition of various nuts, click here:
Handy tips and ideas on how to include a variety of nuts in your daily diet can be found here: https://www.nutsforlife.com.au/nut-recipes/23-tips/ and to receive a free nut recipe cook books, click here: https://www.nutsforlife.com.au/nut-recipes/nut-recipe-book/
Comments